Canteen

ABSTRACT

A canteen to be fastened across the small of the back of a wearer by a belt, and which is fashioned like a bridge, with two abutments engaging the back of the wearer just at or above the waist line, and a body portion spanning between said abutments out of contact with the wearer&#39;&#39;s back.

(ll Unite States Patent 1191 1111 3,843,032 Moran et a1. 1 1 Oct. 22, 1974 [541 CANTEEN 2,187,868 1/1940 Sweitzer 222/175x 1 A 4 1 1 RichardLMmMwflwunga, 313323? 3/1322 sniifl ZZZ/ 24131 p 1 North Hollywood, Cahf- D205,736 9/1966 Jordan 02/400 91601; Carl U. Swenson, 22376 Algunas Rd, Woodland Hills, Calif. 91364 Filed: Sept. 13, 1972 App]. No.: 288,511

US. Cl. 224/5 W, 215/1 C, 224/26 R, 'D2/400 lnt. 1. A451 3/16 Field 01' Search 224/5 W, 26 R, 5 R, 26 B, 224/26 E; 220/9 R; 215/1 C, l R; 222/175; D9/l75, 10; D2/400, 381, 383

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1936 Colletti 224/26 R X Primary Examiner-Robert J. Spar Assistant Examiner-Jerold M. Forsberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmForrest J. Lilly ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CANTEIEN FIELD OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, the canteen of the invention is desig- This invention relates generally to canteens, and 5 Hated generally at fastened y relatively Wide more particularly to means for supporting the canteen from the belt of the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Canteens have usually, in the past, been carried by a sling over the shoulder, or fastened in some way to the belt of the user. A filled canteen of any material bulk is reasonably heavy, and in all the time-worn carrying methods of which we are aware, this relatively heavy object bounces, rubs, or jostles against the body of the person carrying it. Moreover, in most carrying positions, the canteen, particularly when of the size here contemplated, is awkwardly located for the user, who can become very conscious of unsymmetrical weighting, periodic bouncing, swinging, or bumping, or the like. This is particularly true in the case of sportsmen indulging in an action sport such as skiing, for example, where weight and balance need to be critically controlled. It is also of real concern, however, to hikers, hunters, fishermen, horsemen, etc. The broad concept of a belt-carried canteen, of course, is an old or obvious one; but belt support, broadly and generally, requires unobvious refining innovations to carry out our objective, which is, shortly stated, to provide a novel means for fastening a canteen to the back of the user, using a belt, which accommodates the canteen to such advantage that the user, even while indulging his sport activity, is virtually unconscious that he is carrying the canteen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a canteen tied on the back of the wearer, preferably just above the waistline. The canteen is concave, in a horizontal plane; around its insidesurface, i.e., that facing the wearer. The concavity is deep enough that the canteen engages the wearers back over just a narrow area at each of its ends. At each of these ends is a loop or tunnel for the belt, and the belt, stretched therebetween, is taut and in contact with the wearers back, while the canteen, between these loops, is spaced from the back. The canteen thus comes into firm, supportive contact with the back at just at two areas thereof, one on each side, and both located well around the curve of the back, i.e., towards the sides. The canteen thus stands like a bridge, whose two abutments engage the back at two widely spaced areas. With this two-point support, the canteen is incapable of rocking against the back, i.e., there can be no high spots on the canteen capable of engaging the back between its two ends; and the canteen thus stands steady and solid against the back, with no better comparison than that of a bridge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the canteen of the invention strapped in place on the back of the user;

FIG. 2 is a top elevation of the canteen of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation thereof; and

FIG. 4i is a front or inner side elevation thereof.

to have a concave inner or front wall 14, a similarly curved, but convex, back wall 15, a slightly hollowed out, or concave, bottom wall 16, a somewhat convex top wall 17, surmounted by a filler neck 18, and a screw cap 19 screwed thereon. The cap 19 serves, as usual, as a cup. The canteen body is completed by horizontally curved end walls 20, which merge, on a short radius, with the concave inner or front side wall 14. The outline of the body of the wearer as seen looking downward from just above the canteen is designated at w in FIG. 2; and it will be seen that the canteen is long enough (preferably about 10 inches) that its end walls 20 are spaced apart by nearly the width of the body at that level. The contour of the back surface 14 of the canteen is such that the outer end portions 2 of this surface meet substantially flat, i.e., face to face, with the directly underlying curve of the back of the wearer. To secure the basic relationship desired, the radius of curvature R of the wall 14 of the present embodiment is about 8% inches. This means that the curve of the surface 14 has turned through about 27, say roughly 25 30, from center to the area of engagement with the back of the wearer (i.e., to tangency with the body contour line w). In other words, the end, back-engagig areas of the canteen are at this angle to a line joining the two end extremities of the canteen body. The canteen thus stands like a bridge across very approximately two-thirds or three-quarters of the width of the back of the wearer, which it engages firmly at its two end portions e, but at no other place.

A horizontal belt slot 30 extends through each inner corner of the canteen body, forming tunnel-like belt loops 31. As will be seen, the polyethelene walls of the canteen form an inner cavity. The corner portions of the canteen referred to just above are solid, and are penetrated by the slots 30, which thus do not open inside the canteen. These slots, in the preferred form, extend along a straight line which is straight across the back of the wearer, i.e., parallel with the wearers hips, the slots opening just inside the end areas e. The belt 11 emerges from these slots, and extends tautly therefrom across the wearers back, in a contour which, as implied above, may be virtually straight, as shown, or may have a hump in it, depending upon the wearers body build. It is intended, however, that there shall be a clearance space, at C, between the back surface 14 of the canteen and the stretch of the belt between the slots 30. The belt, of course, encircles the wearer, and when tightened, draws the engagement areas e of the canteen into firm, non-rubbing and non-slipping engagement with the back. The two areas of contact are of sufficient area to distribute the pressure well over the areas of the back which are contacted, as well as to fit well against the muscular structure of the back which underly the areas of contact. There are thus no uncomfortable pressure points.

The belt 11 and belt slots 30 are quite wide, in this illustrative case occupying a vertical band of space, substantially centralized with the canteen body, and of a width exceeding half the vertical dimension of the canteen body. Thus, the canteen body is prevented from small rotations on a horizontal axis, such as could be the case if the canteen were suspended from or below the belt. The canteen, instead, is tautly strapped across the back, with points of engagement at only its ends. Thus is achieved maximum steadiness, total absence of movement relatively to the body of the wearer, equalized balance, and minimized discomfort to the wearer, who becomes virtually unaware that he has any object of bulk or weight attached to his person.

We claim:

1. In a canteen for support across the back of a wearer in the region of the waist line;

a molded canteen body to extend horizontally across the back of the wearer, generally above the waist line, said canteen body including an inner side wall to confront the wearers back, said inner side wall being provided at its extremities with end area portions shaped and spaced to engage and fit the wearers back at two points spanning approximately two-thirds to three-quarters the width of the wearers back, said side wall being contoured between its said end area portions to clear the wearers back, said body including also end walls joining and forming corners at opposite ends of said inner side walls, and walls forming a top, a bottom, and a rearward side wall,

belt tunnels integrally molded in said canteen body for a body-encircling belt at said corners, said tunnels opening inwardly through said inner side wall adjacent to said end area portions of said inner side walls and outwardly through said end walls, the stretch of belt between said tunnels being adapted to be tautened across and in contact with the back of the wearer, and there being clearance space between the so-tautened belt and the portion of said inner side wall between said tunnel openings.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said belt tunnels open through the inner side wall of the canteen just inwardly of said end area portions of said inner side walls.

3. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said corners are solidly filled in, and are pierced by said tunnels.

4. The subject matter of claim 2, wherein said tunnels are rectilinearly aligned with one another. 

1. In a canteen for support across the back of a wearer in the region of the waist line; a molded canteen body to extend horizontally across the back of the wearer, generally above the waist line, said canteen body including an inner side wall to confront the wearer''s back, said inner side wall being provided at its extremities with end area portions shaped and spaced to engage and fit the wearer''s back at two points spanning approximately two-thirds to threequarters the width of the wearer''s back, said side wall being contoured between its said end area portions to clear the wearer''s back, said body including also end walls joining and forming corners at opposite ends of said inner side walls, and walls forming a top, a bottom, and a rearward side wall, belt tunnels integrally molded in said canteen body for a bodyencircling belt at said corners, said tunnels opening inwardly through said inner side wall adjacent to said end area portions of said inner side walls and outwardly through said end walls, the stretch of belt between said tunnels being adapted to be tautened across and in contact with the back of the wearer, and there being clearance space between the so-tautened belt and the portion of said inner side wall between said tunnel openings.
 2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said belt tunnels open through the inner side wall of the canteen just inwardly of said end area portions of said inner side walls.
 3. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said corners are solidly filled in, and are pierced by said tunnels.
 4. The subject matter of claim 2, wherein said tunnels are rectilinearly aligned with one another. 